


Troy & Abed In The Morning!

by SophiexHorayne



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: AU, Coworkers to lovers, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:54:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28595052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiexHorayne/pseuds/SophiexHorayne
Summary: “I’m Craig Pelton,” the man said, breezing across the room to sit behind the desk. Troy and Abed glanced at one another before sitting down in the two seats on the other side of the desk, “But I suppose you can call me Dean. I’m kind of like, the Dean of the Community Network.” he explained with a laugh. Troy and Abed glanced at one another again.“Anywayyy, I’m sure you both know a little bit about why you’re here, but I’ll just-”“You need a new morning show on your network. You want me and Troy to present. We’re somewhat known to the public but not too expensive for you to get on board. Plus we’re neither of us white, which probably looks good for you.” Abed raised his eyebrow. Troy remembered how much he liked him.aka the one where Troy & Abed In The Morning is a real TV show.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 14
Kudos: 54





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> i WILL edit this later but i am so sleepy rn (its not night time or anything i think its hormone related? but anywayyyy enjoy this

Troy Barnes got the call during a game. That is, his agent got the call and passed it on to him once the match was won and over and he was freshly showered and changed. 

Abed Nadir did not receive the news as a call but rather an email from his agent, midway through editing his latest short movie for youtube. Abed’s agent knew him well enough to end her email;

‘Please let me know what you think, Abed, although I am sure your response will be a positive one, if I know you at all.’

She was right. That was how Abed and Troy turned up at the Community Network offices for a meeting at 11am, and sat on the chairs in the hallway waiting to go in. It wasn’t the first time they’d met, but the second. They had mutual friendship in Britta, who was an actress featuring in many of Abed’s films. In fact, Troy had even been in one of Abed’s films when he showed up one time with Britta.

So they weren’t exactly strangers. Which was probably why Troy found it so easy to agree in the first place. If this proposal was him and a stranger, well he would have had to give it a slight bit more thought. But he liked Abed, alot, actually. Since meeting him, he’d kept up with all of his movies, read every single one of his blog posts (in which Abed reviews movies) instead of simply contacting him to hang out again. 

In the hallway they were quiet. Troy was nervous, not entirely about the meeting but also seeing Abed again. Abed wasn’t the best at conversation, either, and Troy’s silence only made him wonder if perhaps he did not want to talk. 

“You were in one of my films once- Messiah- to be precise.” Abed tried. Troy nodded hurriedly.

“I know. It was fun,” he glanced at him, his stomach doing flips of nervousness. 

Thankfully a door opening saved Troy from any further awkwardness. A bald head popped out a doorway and grinned at them. He wore black glasses, was skinny and tall, his shirt light and stripy. 

“Troy! Abed! Come in!” 

Troy and Abed glanced at each other before following the man into the room. 

“I’m Craig Pelton,” the man said, breezing across the room to sit behind the desk. Troy and Abed glanced at one another before sitting down in the two seats on the other side of the desk, “But I suppose you can call me Dean. I’m kind of like, the Dean of the Community Network.” he explained with a laugh. Troy and Abed glanced at one another again. 

“ _ Anywayyy _ , I’m sure you both know a little bit about why you’re here, but I’ll just-”

“You need a new morning show on your network. You want me and Troy to present. We’re somewhat known to the public but not too expensive for you to get on board. Plus we’re neither of us white, which probably looks good for you.” Abed raised his eyebrow. Troy remembered how much he liked him.

Craig Pelton withered a little but quickly shrugged it off. “Well,  _ yes _ , Abed, you make a good point. But it’s down to the both of you! How would you like to host a new morning show on the Community Network? It’ll take place in the Greendale Studios across the road and you’ll be on every weekday morning, we think, from eight thirty to eleven thirty in the morning. But that’s not set in stone yet.”

“Eight in the  _ morning _ ?!” 

“Right. It should be earlier, at eight we lose half the morning.” Abed replied. Troy shot him a look that took him a second or two to decipher, “Oh I see,” he said, “you meant eight was too early for you.” 

“The time doesn’t matter!” Craig said, raising his voice a little. He forced a smile. “I just mean, we can sort that out later. If you’re in on this…”

Troy glanced at Abed and smiled, then back at Craig. “We’re in.” Abed backed him up with a nod.


	2. 1

There was a tad more discussion regarding the show before they left Craig’s office, but they were both buzzing once they were out into the hallway.

“I can’t believe this,” Troy said. “It’s gonna be so cool! We’ll be able to interview so many famous people it’s gonna be awesome!”

“And we get to name it,” Abed says, “That’s huge that’s probably like naming a child.”

“Why would you say that?! That’s so much pressure! What should we call it, there must be so many options.”

“I’m leaning towards something simple,” Abed answered. “Something recognisable. Catchy. I think we need our names in it too, that way the audience can easily learn our names if they don’t already know.”

“Right,” Troy agreed, “Something simple, with our names uhh, how about,  _ Mornings! With Troy and Abed _ . Wait, no,  _ In the Morning With Troy and Abed _ ?! Wait no!  _ Troy and Abed in the Morning! _ Or Abed and Troy, if you want to be first.”

“No, I think it flows better with Troy first. Although my name first does have the merit of being alphabetical,” Abed thought for a moment as they pushed through the doors and out into the striking sunshine. “No.  _ Troy and Abed in the Morning _ , I like that!”

“Oh my god we could even have a jingle!” Troy said, stopping them sharply in the doorway of the office block, “Troy and Abed in the Mooornin’!” he sung. 

Abed grinned, “I love it,” he paused and looked around the busy city street, “Do you wanna get coffee? We could plan some more segments.”

“I’d love to.”

They kept talking all the way down the streets, talking animatedly and excitedly, offering segment ideas like reenacting movie scenes. Even in the queue they kept rambling, having to give the orders to the cashier in between excited sentences. 

They sat down at a table in the corner and Abed took a notebook from his bag. They began to fill the pages with ideas. Drawings and mindmaps, scribblings and scrawlings of concepts and segments. 

It was the most excited Abed had been in forever, in fact it had been awhile since he’d even left his apartment. When he needed shopping, his flatmate Annie would usually do it for him. He didn’t make her or anything, but she always offered and well… he had movies to write and edit. 

Troy had been a little lonely, too. He had friends, his football mates, and he still spoke to a few guys from school but they weren’t  _ friend  _ friends. Not really, he rarely messaged them unless it was to do with a group meetup. Partly because he was sometimes bad at communication, but also because he had no desperate urge to speak to any of them, like he didn’t have much in common with them in which to talk about at all. 

Troy was smiling all night after their drinks. And thoughts danced in his head, developing their ideas from earlier in the day. Just before 3am he scribbled down another idea to text to Abed in the morning, and drifted to sleep. 

*

There were more official meetings, and more coffee shop chats. Troy liked the coffee shop chats the most. Sometimes they digressed and began to talk about films and tv. One time Abed asked Troy to explain football to him, but somehow it ended boring them both. 

Abed’s knowledge of TV seemed infinite and Troy wanted to know every last one of his thoughts about every single film that had ever existed. That wasn’t weird or anything. Abed just had so many thoughts and all of such thoughts were so cool! 

Everyday their friendship grew stronger. Every moment that Troy wasn’t at football training he hung out with Abed, planning their first few shows, watching movies and even helping Abed edit his videos (which mostly consisted of watching in awe). 

So far they had around 6 different segments. News headlines and interviews were already set in stone but the Dean gave them almost free rein with the rest of the show. They’d hired an ex lawyer in Jeffery Winger, who’d have his own Jeremy Kyle style segment in the show. Then they had  _ Troy and Abed talking mooovies!  _ A part of the show where they discuss the latest movie releases and have a ‘throwback movie of the day’. 

They seemed to nearly always have the same opinions on movies. Troy wished he didn’t hold back from keeping in touch with Abed after they’d first met. Abed was the most perfect friend he’d ever had. It felt as if the months since meeting him were wasted time- he should have kept in touch.

Another idea was a ‘show and tell’ section. It wasn’t necessarily for celebrities, Abed said. They could have viewers guest on the show with some interesting item or other. Abed made everything sound so cool.

They wanted to also recreate movie scenes, although the Dean pointed out that they’d be unlikely to afford the rights to Batman,  _ or  _ Spiderman, or most of the other characters they suggested.

“What about an Inspector Spacetime spinoff,” Abed suggested. “I’ve always wanted to make one of those. So many underused characters.” 

“Inspector Spacetime?” Troy echoed, confusion in his tone. Abed narrowed his eyes slightly.

“You’ve not seen it?” Abed asked, “Okay well forget movie night tomorrow we’re starting Inspector Spacetime, you’ll love it. We have to do that.” he turned to the Dean on the other side of the desk.

“Well, Abed, that sounds wonderful but I’ve  _ heard  _ of Inspector Spacetime. We can’t afford that! I suppose you could change it around? What if we called it uhhh… I don’t know, pulling names from a hat here, but what about Doctor Who?”

“No that’s stupid,” Abed answered at once.

The Dean withered, “Alright well, it was just a  _ suggestion _ .”

“What if we changed superhero names?” Troy suggested. “Batdude and Spiderguy for example.”

“Well I don’t see how that is any different to my-”

“Genius I love it,” Abed cut the Dean off eagerly. “It crosses over the marvel and DC universes but I suppose that just opens up more possibilities,” Abed gasped. “Spiderguy falls into a parallel universe,” he gasped again, “the darkest timeline!”

They started developing plot points while Craig Pelton watched on in bewilderment. He couldn’t tell whether getting these two together was the best or worst decision of his life. 

*

The first time Abed took Troy to his apartment, Annie was cooking. She was carrying a saucepan to the sink to drain the water when Abed began to introduce Troy.

“Hey Annie this is Troy, the guy I’ve told you about.”

Annie shrieked and dropped the pot of boiling water and veg. She screamed again when the burning water swamped her feet (which were wearing slippers but the water quickly soaked through them). 

“Oh my God are you okay?” Troy rushed over and grabbed the kitchen towel on the counter. He began to unravel a load of sheets as he bent down to her feet. He started patting the water but Annie snatched the paper from him and did it herself. 

“I feel like I’m missing something.” Abed said, watching Troy gaze at Annie in the  _ opposite  _ way to acting like he’d never seen her before. 

“Do I… know you?” Troy asked after staring at Annie a little longer.

Annie flushed and looked down at her veg, slopping it back into the pan to inevitably carry to the bin. 

“Definitely not,” Annie said. “I just...know you from football and obviously not from high school.” she muttered before hurrying past Troy to the bin across the small kitchen. Abed watched her.

“You knew Troy in high school? You didn't tell me,” he said.

“ _ Ohhh _ ,” Troy said. He was still crouched on the floor and mopping up the last of the water, but he stood up then, “You’re  _ that  _ Annie?”

Annie frowned, “Well you don’t need to say it like that.” 

“Annie Edison,” Troy said.

Abed tilted his head in slight confusion. 

“How- how are you?”

Annie frowned, “I’m fine,” she said, turning the oven down before there were any other embarrassing mishaps. “That saucepan incident isn’t representative of me now.”

“Well-”

Annie held a hand up in Abed’s direction to silence him. 

“No that’s- that’s cool, that you got your life together!”

Annie smiled a little, “You too.” 

Abed watched them. He wasn’t, he didn’t think he was feeling jealous, but this wasn’t really how he imagined this going. It made sense though, he supposed, introducing people that have already met is up there in sitcom cliches. But…

“Troy?” Abed started, “I was going to show you around.”

“Right. Yeah, right,” Troy grinned at Annie before following Abed around the apartment.

It was smaller than Troy imagined, although when he thought about it, Abed’s films didn’t have the hugest following, they weren’t blockbusters (although he  _ was  _ popular and Troy adored every film on the channel), he probably didn’t have that much money. Abed showed him the bathroom and gestured to Annie’s bedroom and what looked like a pillow fort and said that that was his room.

Troy frowned, “Your bedroom is a pillow fort?” he asked. “But I thought you said your apartment was a two bed. What’s in that door?” he gestured across the room to the door near the TV. 

“Ah. Come with me,” Abed wiggled his eyebrows and crossed the apartment. Troy hurried after him. 

“Troy.”

Troy looked over at Annie peering around the wall of the kitchen.

“Just… when you see that room… just… just go with it,” she said. Troy frowned, confused before hurrying after Abed into the room.

“Welcome, to the Dreamatorium.” Abed says, opening out his arms to gesture to the room. It’s completely empty of furniture and the walls and the floor are evenly lined in orange tape in a grid-like pattern. There’s cardboard stuck to the wall across the room. 

“What is this place?” Troy asked, gazing around in wonder.

Abed closed the door, “You can go anywhere in here,” he explained.”Any scenario in the universe.”

“I see,” Troy said. “That’s so cool.”

“You think so?” 

Troy nodded eagerly, “Yeah! I wouldn’t lie.”

Abed tilted his head, “Ever?” 

“Not ever,” Troy said, “Not to you.” 

Abed smiled and stepped a little closer to him, “Because we’re friends?” 

“Yeah.”

“If we’re friends we need a handshake.” 

Troy lit up at that. They lost their afternoon in trying out different handshakes, and lost their evening watching Inspector Spacetime. Annie had never seen anyone click with Abed so perfectly, so easily. There was no one better that Abed could have a TV show with. She left them to it and slipped into her room. 

“I’m thinking of asking Annie to be part of our show.” Abed said once she was gone. 

Troy, sat in the armchair beside him, turned to look at him,”That would be cool. What would she do?”

“Not sure. But sometimes she helps with my films. Like with production- organising actors, budgeting, that kind of thing.”

“You want her to be the producer?” Troy checked. “That sounds cool we should totally let her do that!”

Abed relaxed, “I thought you might not want her to, since you knew her?”

“Oh. Yeah but I don’t know her in a bad way,” Troy shrugged. “She was going through stuff in high school but she seems cool now.”

“She’s smart. And organised. I think she’d be a great asset to the show,” Abed explained.

Troy eagerly nodded, “Let’s do that then! Unless the Dean has other ideas?” 

Abed shrugged, “He seems a bit out of his depth.” Troy grinned.

Annie was thrilled at the offer. She hugged Troy and she hugged Abed and bounced about the house excitedly. Abed glanced at Troy and the grin on his face and  _ God _ . This TV show was the best decision of his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go, chapter 1 :) shouldn’t be too long until next chap? pls let me know ur thoughts so far love u all


	3. 2

Ideas turned into storyboards and costumes and scripts and  _ reality _ . They saw their studio for the first time after a few months. It was basic, then, the chairs staggered along the back for a live audience. They trod down the steps of the aisles and onto the carpet below. 

“We can put a sofa there,” Abed said, pointing to the right. 

“Yeah and we could do Batdude and Spiderguy over here.” Troy pointed to the left, an uncarpeted section.

“Ah that’s usually for a house band,” the Dean pointed out. 

Troy shrugged.

“We don’t need a band,” Abed said. “I think Batdude and Spiderguy would work there, I think we should do a run through of the first scene.”

“Yes!” 

Batdude and Spiderguy was mostly created in the Dreamatorium. Abed wrote the scripts after their improv. It felt real, more than any of his other ideas, which was strange because Batdude and Spiderguy was meant to be a tonne of overdone cliches and iconic TV moments thrown into two definitely-original characters. But he took to it so easily, so did Troy. It was… well they had something, with Batdude and Spiderguy. It worked. It was the easiest thing Abed had ever written, maybe because he had someone to bounce ideas off of. Maybe. 

Dean watched them rehearse, confused again. He was really going to air this… it might be a disaster. It  _ would  _ be a disaster if they hadn’t got Jeffery Winger. He’d not stopped thinking about him since Troy and Abed introduced them. If it all goes wrong, if no one likes this crazy show… well at least Jeffery would be there. 

*

8 months after the first meeting, they started to rehearse. They filmed a few bits for trailers, they met some of the first guests in advance. Troy’s commitment to football slipped and he had to miss a few coffee meet ups with Abed to make up for lost training. It kind of sucked. He had better things to do than football. Like writing Batdude and Spiderguy with Abed and watching TV with Abed. Like picking out throwback movie recs with Abed. Like designing their new studio with Abed.

Football didn’t fit in with anything anymore. He knew he was letting it slip through his fingers and he wished he cared. He was benched at one of his games. Fans seemed baffled. Troy felt bad. He’d make it up, he’d promised his coach, his agent. He was just busy. Once the show launched he’d have more time, he decided. 

The day before the announcement and the trailer, Abed was quiet. He sat in the Dreamatorium, legs crossed, staring at the wall. Troy knocked before entering, although Abed didn’t answer so he entered anyway. He calmed down when he saw that Abed was- physically- okay. 

“Abed,” Troy began, closing the door behind him and wandering over. He sat tentatively beside him, “Everything okay, Buddy?” 

Abed looked at him, then down at his lap.

“It’s- it’s okay if you’re nervous for tomorrow,” Troy said, “I mean, I have butterflies too!”

Abed shook his head desperately. “It’s not just that I’m nervous,” he said. “It’s just… it’s going to be real. It’s a big thing and I guess I hadn’t truly realised that until now, how much it’ll change everything.” 

“Abed… that’s okay,” Troy said gently. “It’s normal, I mean, this is a  _ huge  _ thing. A giant change-”

Abed made a noise in the back of his throat, like a terrified whine. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Troy rushed. “I just mean, yeah it’s a big change but, you will still be right here. In this apartment. With Annie. And me? Even if the announcement goes bad… we’ll still be right here, Buddy.” 

“Unless someone hates the show so much that they find where we live and set the building on fire and-”

“Abed... that’s not going to happen.”

“It might.”

“No I mean- no one’s ever hated a TV show that much. To  _ us  _ this is a massive thing, I know, but to them it’s just another morning show that most people will miss because of their work schedules anyway,” Troy lightly touched his hand to Abed’s knee in comfort. Abed stared down at it, and Troy wondered if he didn’t like the touch so much, so he dropped his hand again. “We will be fine.”

Abed sighs, “Okay,” he said, “I guess you’re probably right,” he thought for a moment, “But you’ll stay over tonight?”

“Course if you want me to.”

“I do,” Abed answered. “I want you to stay,” he paused. “Do you think we have time to rehearse the first Batdude and Spiderguy again before dinner?”

Troy breathed a sigh of relief and grinned at him, “Absolutely Buddy.” 

Troy spent the night on pillows in Abed’s blanket fort bedroom. He stared up at the blankets, the checkered pattern on them.

“You know what would be cool,” Abed began before they fell asleep.

“What?” Troy dragged his eyes over to Abed’s bed. He couldn’t see him from this angle, but it was nice, just knowing he was there. 

“Bunk beds.” 

Troy smiled to himself and closed his eyes, “That would be cool. Shotgun the top one.”

“Cool,” Abed said, “Cool cool cool. I don’t mind the bottom bunk. We can do that.” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Night Troy.”

“G’night Abed.”

*

The trailer aired on TV the following morning. Troy made popcorn which made Abed feel much better. They each sat on one of the armchairs and Annie dragged the sofa in behind them and sat in the middle, peering between the chairs. 

They cheered when it began, Annie whooping loudly from behind them until Abed quickly shushed her and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl Troy was holding out between them. 

The trailer started with them sitting at the sofa, cheerily saying their jingle. They cut to Jeff and then Duncan’s education segment (somehow that had wormed its way in at the last minute). They briefly showed a few guests and then Batdude and Spiderguy.

It was barely 30 seconds until it was over. Troy glanced at Abed- he seemed to be beaming. He grinned at Troy and grabbed more popcorn from the bowl, throwing a few kournels to the floor as he did so. As he shovelled it into his mouth he picked up his phone. He swallowed his mouthful before speaking.

“Text from Jeff,” he said. “And my dad. He said ‘congrats’.” he sounded surprised. 

“That’s cool right?”

“Yeah,” Abed said, then his eyes widened. “We’re even trending on twitter!” 

At that, Troy and Annie got out their phones. 

*

“Abed?” Annie began, closing her bedroom door behind her. “Who was that at the door?”

Abed dragged two large boxes from the hallway and into the centre of the apartment. Annie was even more confused.

“Abed… what’s that?”

“Bunk beds,” Abed answered, crossing to the kitchen and grabbing scissors from the cupboard. “For me and Troy.” He went back to the boxes and crouched down to them, beginning to cut open the tape sealing the first box. 

“Troy’s moving in?” Annie asked.

“No,” Abed said. “But I don’t expect that the other day will be the last time he stays over. We talked about it, he thought bunk beds would be cool.” 

“Okay…” Annie watched him pull out some large wooden slats. “Would you like some help?” 

Abed looked up at her, then back at the wood now across the floor. “That might be a good idea.”

Actually, he was glad Annie was there to help him because he’d no idea how he’d have made it himself, needed someone to hold the wood in place while he added the screws. But they looked good once he’d finished, and dragged his bed out of the blanket fort to replace with the bunk beds. 

“What about a second mattress?” Annie pointed out once Abed put his old mattress onto the bottom bunk..

“Oh that’s coming tomorrow,” Abed answered. “I know what I’m doing.”

Annie nodded, went to say something else but closed her mouth again. Abed caught it, though.

“What?” he asked, tilting his head. 

Annie shrugged, tried to pull an innocent face. “Nothing just... it’s nice how well you and Troy get on.” she landed on eventually. 

“I know. Troy’s great,” Abed replied, dragging his bedding from his old bed into the blanket fort. 

“Great?” Annie echoed, raising her eyebrows. Abed frowned.

“Yeah,” he replied. 

“Okay…” Annie slipped out and left him to it. It seemed maybe she was trying today something without saying it, but if it was important she’d have just said it. So he brushed it aside.

The first show was on Monday. With his best friend. That was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we hit a hundred hits already??!!! so in celebration, here's the next chapter :) hope you enjoyed


	4. 3

“Troy and Abed on the Radio!” They sang, in sync in the car, followed by their handshake. The driver eyed them in the front mirror, out of curiosity more than anything- he’d never known passengers like these two. 

It was the week before their first show, and they had a string of interviews up and down the country. This morning their day began with a few radio shows. It was early in the morning, the sun had only just risen, fuzzing the world with a chilling fresh air. 

Usually, the mornings would have had Troy grumpy, grumbling at his roommates and pulling the duvet back over his head. Today, however, he feels giddy with excitement. He’d stayed in the bunk beds over at Abed’s so they could leave at the same time and it had him awake in an instantly good mood. To have the first person he sees in the morning to be Abed Nadir? There was no reason to grumble. Abed made them waffles for breakfast (as in, he cooked up some frozen waffles from the back of the freezer) but both were so excited that they could barely eat at all.

The car pulled up outside a radio station and Troy and Abed met a young woman at the turn style doors. She began to explain the rundown of the interview as they made their way along the halls, lined with photographs of radio djs with some celebrity or other, and they were distracting. Neither of them were truly listening to the woman. It didn’t matter.

It wasn’t the first time Troy had ever been on the radio, but it was the first time with Abed, which made it all twenty times more awesome. The microphones lining the round desk, the headphones, all the wires and the people on computers behind soundproof glass. 

“And, joining us today in the studio, Troy Barnes and Abed Nadir,” the DJ introduced them. “A footballer and a filmmaker starting a TV show together, now how did that come about?”

Abed answered. “I’ve been working closely with the Community Network for a while, I’d heard they’d been looking to start a new morning show with people already known to the public somewhat. Although I hadn’t expected them to follow through, or choose me to host it.”

“Oh well I think they’ve made a great choice in hosts,” the DJ replied. “And Troy? How did you react to the offer?”

“Oh I was so excited! I’d met Abed, a while ago and ever since I’d kept up with his films and blog posts because he’s-”

“Wait you have?” Abed cut in.

“Hmm?” Troy blinked up at him.

“You’ve… kept up with my films? Even my blog?”

Troy swallowed, though he wasn’t sure why he felt suddenly nervous. “Course, Buddy.” It felt strange to lean into a microphone to speak to the wide world of listeners at the same time as speaking directly to Abed. “You’re a great writer! And director, and your movie opinions are always so  _ right _ . That’s why I wanted to work with you, you’re awesome.”

A small smile slipped onto Abed’s lips. “Thanks,” he paused. “You’re awesome too.” 

Troy forgot, for a moment that they were on air, that people were listening, and he found himself frozen in Abed’s gaze. Caught in  _ something _ . 

“Well that’s very sweet,” the DJ sliced the moment in two. “And you know, from the trailer, I think we can all tell that you two have a great connection.”

“We do,” Abed said. Troy was glad he said something, because he couldn’t think of anything. “Usually people don’t spend that much time with me, I find it difficult to make friends, but Troy…” Abed glanced at him, “Troy’s very quickly become my best friend. I usually write alone, but working on this with Troy… I’ve never bounced ideas off of anyone like that before. You’ll see a part of the show that’s scripted, co-written by the both of us. It’s a crazy, jokey kind of show but it’s one of my favourite things I’ve ever written.” 

“ _ Abeeed _ ,” Troy said, in a soft, small voice. 

“What? It’s true,” Abed answered. “Batdude and Spiderguy… it’s very special to me.”

“Batdude and Spiderguy?” the DJ echoed, “Could you tell us a bit about that?”

“Sure,” Abed said. “It’s the only scripted section of the show, a couple minutes of a story every other day. The premise is Spiderguy, discovering a wormhole and falling into the darkest timeline. With no one to save the world with but Batdude. You’ll find out more on the show.”

“Crazy, crazy and the guest stars,” the DJ continued. “I see you have actress Britta Perry.”

“Yes, a good friend of both of ours,” Abed answered. Troy smiled weekly and let him continue. He chimed in a few times but he felt nervous now, like somehow he’d put his foot in it, said something he shouldn’t. 

In the car on the way to the next interview they were quiet for a while, the sound of the car rumbling along the main roads flooding Troy’s ears.

“I didn’t know you enjoyed my movies so much,” Abed said, breaking the silence and somehow filling it with something worse. 

“Abed…”

“No it’s just… I wasn’t sure if you liked me, after we first met. You were in my movie. And we got lunch and we had a good conversation. But then you left… and I didn’t hear from you again.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Troy replied, looking at the small seat between them. “I just… I’m not very good at communication.” There was also the fact that Abed made him nervous, when he thought of him after. He was so cool and they got on so well it made him feel… something. Something weird that he didn’t understand. So he ran away from it. 

“It’s okay,” Abed said. “It’s not like I contacted you either. Usually, when I think I have a chance at a friend I get clingy, apparently. People tell me I get annoying. I didn’t want to do that.” 

“Abed...” Troy started. “You’re not annoying. I’m just stupid.” 

“You’re not,” Abed replied at once. “Also, sometimes I may have… put on some football to see if you were playing.” 

Troy couldn’t help break into a grin. “You hate football.”

“I think it’s confusing, and boring. You’re not boring.”

“But I am confusing?” Troy said, but he was teasing.

“I find everyone confusing to some extent,” Abed answered. “But you… not so much no.” 

Troy smiled and leant his head back on the car headrest. He felt warm. Giddy inside all over again. “Hey, Abed?” he turned lazily to him in his seat, still pressing his cheek against the leathery seat material.

“Yes?”

“I’m really glad we’re doing this. Not just for my career I’m… it’s been good being around you.”

“It’s been good for me too.”

They smiled at each other, the driver glancing over at them in the mirror briefly before turning back to the road. 

“Do you feel like I gave too much away about Batdude and Spiderguy?” Abed asked, changing the subject suddenly. 

*

By the end of the week, going over the same explanations and concepts four times a day grew tiring. On Thursday, it felt like a normal early morning for Troy. He groaned and grumbled and pulled the duvet back up over him when Abed, from down below, tried to reach up and pull it down. 

But by Sunday he was back to excitement and nervous butterflies. Abed and Annie hosted a modest party at theirs, inviting Jeff and Ian Duncan, Britta and a few other friends (and, of course, Troy). Craig Pelton hadn’t been invited but he had somehow got wind of it anyway, and swanned in with a bottle of champagne to offer in reparation for the gatecrash (at least that’s how the others took it). 

It was a good night, and although Troy was careful not to get drunk, the euphoria of the night had him a little carried away. When he woke up, he thought he remembered, at one point, kissing Abed on the cheek. But perhaps that was a dream, or one of those just-before-falling-asleep thoughts (the fact that he may have been having such thoughts about kissing Abed was something Troy simply decided not to address.) 

Then, after thinking that, in the hazy moments of reassuming consciousness, it dawned on him. Today was the day.

“Abed?” Troy called and shuffled on his bed. “Abed!” He hurried down the bed to the ladder, half throwing himself down and falling the second half of the way to the floor. Abed wasn’t in his bed. It was neatly made, his pyjamas folded under the pillow, an edge of the orange shirt sleeve poking out. 

Troy quickly pushed it back under the pillow so it couldn’t be seen (that was the way Abed liked it) then hurried out the pillow fort. He strolled straight across the apartment to the Dreamatorium, sure Abed would be in there, freaking out or something. 

The room was empty. And  _ cold  _ from the chilly night. He slipped out again.

“Abed?” he called, a little louder than before. 

A door across the house, a soft pattering of footsteps. “Morning Troy.” 

Abed stood in the hallway, dressed, holding a toothbrush with a small round blob of toothpaste sitting on the brush.

“Hey! You’re up early.” Troy said, which  _ meant _ ‘are you okay?’

“Woke up from the excitement then couldn’t get back to sleep.” Abed replied before holding up his forefinger then turning and wandering back to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Troy shrugged and hurried into the pillow fort to get dressed.

*

They shared a dressing room at the studio, but it was large and had plenty of space to get changed quietly. Abed wore a cardigan, white and slightly stripy with bright blue buttons. He wore a teal coloured bowtie, too, and it suited him. He looked like he was made for this, was bouncing excitedly on his feet. 

“You look cool,” Abed told Troy. It made the latter swallow nervously. He looked just fine, he thought. He was wearing a suit jacket over a shirt with the top button undone.

“You think?” he asked. “You’re sure I don’t look too casual?”

Abed shook his head. “The show  _ is  _ partly casual though Troy, it’s hardly black tie.” He looked him up and down again, quickly, as if trying to be subtle. “You look good.”

“Okay. Alright.” He turned back to the mirror.

“Nervous?” Abed asked, tilting his head, trying to read him.

Troy looked back at him. “Yeah. You?”

“Terrified.”

It made Troy feel a tiny bit better, that he wasn’t alone in the nerves.

“We’ll be okay, though,” Troy said, almost like a question.

Abed nodded. “I’ll still be right next to you,” he said, “no matter what.”

Troy beamed. They did their signature handshake before there was a knock on their dressing room door and Annie’s voice called them.

“Troy? Abed? It’s time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tysm for all the comments and attention this has gotten so far! I really appreciated it, love u all sm. hope u enjoyed this chapter, hopefully will update soon :)

**Author's Note:**

> gonna post chapter one in a few hours. i thought this was a moment of quiet where i could focus and take my time posting this but now i have to do things lol but anywayss thank you for reading!! also this is my first community fic woah


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